Adair and James

How We Met

James and I met six years ago, 2011, in Baton Rouge, LA when his LSU Tigers played against my Auburn Tigers in football. We exchanged numbers in hopes that we might see each other again, but nothing came from it other than an occasional text here or there. We both graduated college and I moved to New York City to work at a Children’s Hospital as a Child Life Specialist, and James moved to Austin for graduate school to become a Physical Therapist. One night on my way home from work I got a call from James saying that him and some friends were going to be in NYC the following weekend and was wondering if I’d like to catch up or meet for a drink. I agreed, not exactly knowing why, considering I hadn’t seen the guy since that one football weekend four years ago.

Needless to say, we spent the entire weekend together and it was pretty much perfect in every way, but I knew it was coming to an end. After James left to go back to Austin, I got a call from him a few days later asking if I could pick him up from the airport in two weeks. I told him of course, but asked why was he coming back? He answered me with the simplest statement in his gentle voice saying “I let you get away once, and I won’t make the same mistake again. I’m coming back for you.” From that moment we began our long distance relationship that lasted just over a year and a half until I was offered a job back home in Houston, TX. Life took us in different directions from thinking we’d never see each other again, to flying back and forth across the country for one another, to finally living in the same city, and now being engaged and looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together!

How He Asked

James and I planned on taking a trip to see his family back in Louisiana and drove up after work on Friday. We shopped around Magazine Street in uptown New Orleans and had brunch with his mom Saturday morning and into the afternoon. His mom had said earlier that before we left to go meet up with friends that she really wanted to show me this 400 year old Oak tree that James and his brother use to climb when they were little. As we pulled up to Audubon park I was in complete awe and wonder of how incredibly beautiful this tree was! As we were walking towards the tree I thought it would make for a cute picture if James and I climbed the branches, just like his brother and he did when they were little. So, I started to climb up one of the long extended branches and James all of a sudden became very anxious and worried about me. Maybe it was because he was worried about my safety? Or maybe it was because I was about to have my entire life changed forever.

As I jumped down from the tree, he instantly grabbed my hand and pulled me around to the other side where a white quilt, sunflowers, and champagne were waiting. I stopped, looked around, saw a photographer in the near distance and immediately put everything together. I looked at James and told him “Babe we got to go! Someone’s about to get engaged and we are standing right in the middle of it! We’re about to ruin someone’s moment!” I pulled his hand and began to walk in the opposite direction when I felt a pull back from him. I didn’t understand?

Why wasn’t he walking with me? I turned around and there was James, smiling at me with teary eyes and said “Adair, baby, this is for you. It’s all for you.” I’ve never cried so much in my entire life and after the shock of the fact that I was now engaged to the love of my life my family appeared out of nowhere! Everyone we truly loved and cared about was there to be a part of our day.